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Sarge's 2013 - Sydney, Some extreme variations!

Alright to kickstart off on this forum, I might as well write up a glog where I can show you guys what I have started, what I have and where I hope to be.
 
I never used to be a fan of chilli. Couldn't tolerate the hate and the day after. After time went on I started getting an itch for it and started to like it more and more to the point I eat hot things just to experience the burn. Well I consider my self to have always had a green thumb. Ive grown many plants in the past, mainly fruitful like tomato's strawberries and other types of berries. I then tried Bonsai but with uni and other things in the way it was far too hard to maintain and after a year trying to grow plants from seedlings, it only took one bad day to wipe out an entire batch I worked so hard on; a scorching 43C summer day.
 
Now I'm starting my run with chilli's, namely the super hots. So what did I do? I headed over to eBay and bought some bhuts in reds and chocolate, some trinidad scorpions, morugas, naga x 7 pot just to get me started.
 
I started my seedlings as I did previous plants Ive grown, moist paper towel in a plastic bag behind the fridge or somewhere warm. The bhuts were the first batch I tried and I hit a 100% germination rate after 10 days. These were then sewn into the Scotts seed raising mix which I bought from Bunnings. They were planted in trays in those little mini greenhouse things and I kept an eye on them every day until they broke through the surface. I obtained a heat mat, a reptile grow lamp and built a box in my cupboard to house them in which is lined with aluminium foil to keep light and heat in. After the bhuts cracked the surface I tried a batch of 10 of each of the other seeds. The seeds were from different sellers on eBay. I had 70% with the naga x 7 pot, 70% with another batch and two other batches I had had completely failed on me. I'm not sure what happened, I didn't take pictures but the seeds seemed to change colour, some went black while others stained the paper towel in a yellow colour run.
 
I threw those bad seeds out and named it to a bad harvest of seed. The bhuts I germinated looked extremely better quality than the other seeds which failed. Most of the seeds had little cracks in them, some werent whole, and they looked overly dried out.
 
After the plants got their first true set of leaves I started feeding them, and this is where I request input. Ive been using seasol at half strength every other week and the other weeks between I have been using power feed. I have also got a bottle of Chilli focus but have not tried this out. I feed straight to the soil. I think as of late though I have been over watering slightly. The soil looks too moist for my liking so I have backed off the watering(please reference the attached pictures).
 
I have a couple of questions of things I have seen along the way and things I need cleared.
 
Firstly my plants are grown in my room up stairs in a cupboard, isolated from any other plants. I have noticed a flying insects in there which I have squashed whenever Ive seen them. They are smaller than a fruit fly and when I lift the cover off the seedlings the bugs either fly out or run and hide in the soil. Ive seen about 4 now and killed all of them. There is no point getting a picture, no camera I have would be capable of getting a clear image, these things are tiny as. Are these of concern? How the hell did they get there? The only time the cover is off is when I water.
 
Secondly, should I remove the cover off the seedlings now? A chap suggested I remove it while another suggested to keep it to retain humidity. Checking all the photos I see online, no one keeps their seedlings enclosed. Refer to the pix to see the housing.
 
Third off, and I have a pic for this one, two of the seedlings have strange patches on their new set of leaves, they look like dark spots but they aren't theyre actually thinner spots and the illusion of darkness comes from the fact its the soil being semi visible through the leave. There are no bugs or insects other than the flying ones that I have seen. Nothing leeching off the plant. The leaves otherwise are a nice green colour.
 
For now no more writing, here are the pictures. In two days these will be about 3.5 weeks old.
 
I will post pix and updates as necessary.
 
Hope you guys enjoy!
 
P.S if anyone here is in Australia and has some fresh seed to sell(or even in the US), please PM me. I'm trying to find some pure 7 pot varieties and depending if I can get my red bhuts to germ maybe some fresh red bhuts. The ones which have grown so far are chocolate bhuts.
 
These are the strange looking leaves. Its only the two plants at the front bottom corner of the tray. Any ideas?

 
I found this little bastard growing in one of the cells.

 
Bigger picture of the damaged leaves

 
This is my current setup

 
Soil moisture


 
Soil temp

 
Close up of soil moisture. Looks too wet.

 
 
 
Click to expand...
Thanks for the encouraging words chaps.
 
Gotta chime in, I'm seeing white flies hanging around. The little cunts try hide under the leaves of the plants and I try squash them when I see them. Would sticky pads suffice?
 
Also seeing these other weird looking bugs, they kind of look like mosquitoes but much fatter bodies and they have a metallic shiny green or blue body with wings and black veins on their wings. Anyone know what those could be?
 
Robber flies.
 
This the one?
 
3199887904_0f89c4512b_z.jpg


If not just google image robber flies and I am sure you will find it. Dont get bit.
 
That image you posted looks almost exactly like it, but when I google it, they seem huge, they're seen killing bees! Its definitely not that big, its probably the same size as a normal house fly but a body shaped like a mosquito just fatter and the same body colour as that. I'll try get a picture of them tomorrow, if they're what you say then they might be more good than bad. They have really erratic movement, move quick, land fast, take off fast. Very zippy little bugs, not lazy like a fly or slow like a mosquito.
 
Just a little update.
 
I acquired some new larger, final home pots for some of my plants which will remain in pots. I mixed up a batch potting mix which consisted of vegetable and herb potting mix, one peat brick, half a bag of perlite and half a bag of cheap plain potting mix(no additives). This stuff looked great, it felt great and if this stuff treats the plants and me well, I'll be using it much more often. I have to thank Cartz for getting me onto those peat bricks. Those things are amazing. I wish I wish I wish I put a few bricks into my garden grow. The soil is extremely poor at maintaining moisture and I am not too keen at removing all my plants and turning it over. Lesson learned for next time. Heres some pix of the mix, the pots and the plants in the new pots:
 



 
The pots are 38x38x38 and took about 18l of soil, non inclusive of the old potting mix. They are those self watering pots which I have never used before in this size so not too sure how well they work but the tray design at the bottom will inhibit fungus gnats getting in and if they water effectively from the bottom then its gonna be sweet.
 
My soil grow is looking good. The plants need watering sometimes 2 times a day. The soil retains very little water. Not impressed with that. I know for next time to add some water retaining stuff to it, PEAT BRICKS! Apart from that though, the plants are looking good. Putting on nice looking growth and handling the 35c sun well.
 



 
My other plants up stairs are looking good.  Most are starting to push out buds and my hungarian black has set a handful of pods already.
 
I noticed a few of these extremely weird looking crawling bugs on my plants. I don't know if they fly but they look like dust. They are definitely bugs, they walk around and I have to hunt them down. Anyone know if they're a pest which I need to eliminate?
 
Also discovered fucking aphids on one of my small seedlings outside which was grown in an isolated spot. 3 aphids on it. I crushed them manually. If they return I will give them a dose with natural pesticide.
 

 
Also a batch of my hybrids which I have started germinating in jiffy pellets(3 varieties, 2 of each) have been about 10 days in peat, had one hook so far. Hopefully see some more soon.
 
Your plants are looking good Sarge. Just chalk up that crappy soil as a lesson learned for next season (I don't think I'd be bothered re-treating the soil and re-planting either haha).
 
Don't mess around with those aphids, I'd give them a whack with some neem oil or similar right away. They have an uncanny knack of going from 3 to 30 overnight.
 
I don't know what that UFO is, but that's exactly why I don't take photos of my plants with such good lenses...some things I'd just rather not see :whistle:  
 
Keep up the good work.
 
Little update:
 
Recently potted up my balcony seedlings into larger pots. Even though they were small, they were hungry for space in their old pots. Also Put two more plants into their final pots and stuck them in fulltime sun now on the other balcony.
 
My outdoor plants aren't doing very well. They were growing great, very fast height wise and also outwards. Until a few days ago I noticed some leaves curling and damage to the veins.
 
This is a link to my other thread: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/43410-new-growth-curling-outwards/page-2
 
Ill put a couple pix in the bottom here. I still do not know if I'm fighting against a pest or something in the soil(nute etc). I started to think it may be due to snail pellets but I think this is unlikely since my other outdoor plants which had no snail pellets layed are exhibiting the same issue. I hope its something they can grow through without too much stress. I haven't seen any thrip and it doesn't look like broadmite damage. Also from what I know broadmites aren't usually a problem where I am(western Sydney).
 
 


 
Plants on the balcony.
 
The size the Aji limon has put  on and the colour it has to it is heads and shoulders above the Chinense varieties. This plant grew very fast. All my plants got the exact same potting mix, with the exact same feeds, with the exact same watering regime.
 
I'm proud of this one. If it tastes as good as it looks, I'll be growing more next year with some pineapples!
 
Also, not far behind a yellow bhut and a TS butch T.
 
All my outdoor plants are copping some bad weather. Had 38C days, then rain for 3 days with temps around 20C then a mild week at 25c now 3 more days of rain to come. My plants in the dirt haven't made recoveries yet. Gonna hit them with another spray of spinosad. They are growing really well though, putting on alot of  bushiness. I really hope they make it through the patch. I'll snap some pix of them tomorrow if weather permits.
 
I'm getting a couple plants with purple stalks. Again all my plants are fed the same stuff, but some of them are showing purple stalks. Is this of any concern?
 
Removed pictures, too big!
 
Really getting hit with terrible weather. Hot, then humid, then rain rain rain then HOT then cool then HOT then RAIN RAIN and predicated hail after I just removed the damn shade cloth from my plants!
 
Here's a quick pic of my outdoor plants. They still have the ugly looking leaves, Ive pulled some of the worse looking leaves off just as safe measure. They are growing nicely again, I think they will pull through! My two other plants which were looking rough(chlorotic leaves) are really bouncing back. There is some very very nice looking foliage growing in underneath nice and green. Hopefully when they grow a little more the plant will shed the ugly leaves. I hope the weather stabilizes.
 
The aji limon is pushing flowers all over the place. Hopefully the weather stays in the mid 20's and some pods set before summer kicks into full gear. 44C here, not looking forward to it. My hungarian black is setting pods all over the place and my red jalapeno has set a handful of pods too!
 
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Hey man for your outdoor plants I'd recommend getting some high chitinase worm castings to fend off pests. Insects hate chitinase. Also you could look into diatomaceous earth (highly recommended) its all natural easy to apply. It basically literally shreds the insects. Microscopic dried algea i think cant remember but those will help.  Great job though. Whats in your soil? organic or conventional methods?

BTW!! You need to contact http://thehippyseedcompany.com/ for pure seeds out in Australia. They're great dudes, very very reputable. Best bet man.
 
Thanks dudes. There are people who sell worm casting/juice but they never have any when I need it. The next stage for me is building my own worm farm!
 
Just a little update. I got bored and couldn't want for some other parts to come in so I bit the bullet and took a blind folded leap into a dwc.
 

 
Tested the PH its at 6 or under. No PPM tester, our water is somewhat soft to medium, I have no idea what the typical analysis is and ppm so just shot off the label of the hydro nutes. If the plant makes it through the night(or by the time I get back from work) I think she might be fine. I either expect it do die quite rapidly or it should pull through. Fingers crossed. Mind you though I did experiment with my weakest plant. It wasn't looking too happy in the pot, it was lighter green than the rest of the pots. I washed out the root ball as best I could. It was an absolute pain in the ass to get the roots in through the net pot so I  made the water level a tiny bit higher to compensate for the roots which aren't in the water. The bubbles popping though should keep everything moist. Added just a little shot of h2o2 in there.
 
Again, fingers crossed!
 
Why do super hots hate me! What am I doing wrong? Every one of my non super hot pepper plants has flowered and set pods, its only my super hots that are giving me trouble. They get the exact same attention, water, light, food, potting up etc as my other plants yet they always go wrong. My plants are looking dull. I don't know if its the pot size, maybe the pots are too small(5 - 6L pots) but in the exact same sized pots I have a Jalapeno and Black Hungarian throwing pods everywhere.
 
I've dissolved a tablespoon of Magnesium in 2L of water and gave them a watering about 2 - 3 weeks ago and no change. They're putting on growth but they just don't look vivid. The lower leaves on some plants have gone very yellow to the point they have fallen off. There is no sign of disease or pests on these plants. Like I said, all the plants are in the exact same environment, its just these super hots that hate me! Whether started from seed or from a store bought plant, no pods :( Even my plants in the dirt aren't looking great. Well everything thats a superhot! The cayenne plant are only a foot tall and setting pods.
 
Stay posi mate! You can't really compare superhots to annuums in terms of vigour. All things being equal in your garden, chinenses will normally be the last species to flower/set pods. They don't really go nuts in terms of growth the way annuums or baccatums do. Slow and steady most definitely wins the superhot race.
 
With regards to their bottom leaves yellowing and falling off, my chinenses always do that after their initial growth period, right before they start getting more vertical. It's probably got something to do with how big those early leaves can get (20+cms) on such a small plant. The moment they touch the soil you may as well save it the trouble and pull them off.
 
Don't forget that the weather is Sydney has been hit and miss. I dunno what happened to Spring but hopefully now that it's Summer it will settle into a nice consistently warm pattern. Your other plants might be pushing through regardless but I'm sure your supers will show signs of improvement once the weather settles.
 
Lastly, most supers have the potential to grow into really big plants, so you definitely want to give them the biggest shoes possible. It would be a shame to be doing everything right but have small pots stunt their growth. I know as much as anyone that space is always an issue though. So that can be a tough one.
 
Be patient, resist the urge to love them to death, and just keep doing the basics right like you have been. When you start seeing those gnarly super pods grow it will all seem worth it! :)
 
Just a little update, my first batch seedlings are now either in final pots or in the dirt. Only have about 5 or 6 which are still indoors until they're ready. Things are going well. Only little mishap was a Christmas decoration in 80+km winds falling over and breaking one of my plants but the result of that was a quick cloning/aeroponic system! Seems to be working. Its been a few days since its broken off and the leaves are still green and tender, not crispy.

 
My pepper in the dwc is looking good. It was one of my sickly looking plants, initially, but now its got some green colour coming back. Its also pushing out some nice new roots. The bucket smells. I suspect there may be fungus in there but at the moment not entirely sure. It has had H2o2 in there and is getting alot of oxygen and ice on the hotter days.

 
The plants which I potted up today(two aren't here) are going to enjoy their new home. Much greater space for them to stretch their legs. The root mass was almost greater than the plant it self! Group shot!

 
50% of my dirt plants are looking good, the other half looks ok. Not sure what the hell is going on here but I'll let the pictures speak:


 
All plants in this plot get the same everything. PH seems stable across the board at 5.5 to 6.5. The plants get roughly the same light(greener plants get earlier sun, ends sooner, lighter plants get later sun lasts longer). Still you can draw a line down the middle of the plants and see one half is very nice and green while the other is somewhat yellow.
 
This is my strongest looking plant so far:

 
If my memory is correct its a naga x 7 pot.
 
Gotta get a few more of those broccoli boxes to plant up the remaining plants!
 
Enjoy!
 
P.S What does everyone prefer, thumbnailed images or the full shabang on the same page?
 
Just a little update, have some more pods being set. More pods on the jalapeno, more pods on my aji lemon which is struck with BLS, my choc hab has begun setting pods, a few of my cayennes have some nice looking pods to them. My hydro plant was putting on growth by the day, did a nutrient change today and the poor bugger is wilting pretty badly. Pics below.
 
Check out the growth in these plants, 7 days apart!

 

 
How my hydro plant looked, on the day of transplant, then how it looked today minutes after a nute change:
 

 
 
This is how it looked 1 hour after a nute change
 

 
Not sure whats up now :( Hopefully its just some shock from the nute res change and water temps. Will know when I get back from work tonight.
 
Damn image shack is weird, some pictures thumb nailed others aren't :/
 
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